Coach Pays Tribute To Kaepernick During Anthem

Following the lead of San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick and Denver Broncos linebacker Brandon Marshall, a few members of a New Jersey high school football team knelt while the national anthem played.

Like Kaepernick and Marshall, coaches and students combined as the predominantly non-white Woodrow Wilson school performed the controversial move to raise awareness of social and economic injustice, NBC News reports.

Initially, Tigers coach Preston Brown said he was going to kneel alone in protest.

“I am well aware of the third verse of the national anthem which is not usually sung, and I know that the words of the song were not originally meant to include people like me,” he explained.

The silent third verse he’s referring to reads: “No refuge could save the hireling and slave / From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave.”

“[Because] of recent events that happened the last couple years, things I experienced in college being an African-American student athlete in the south, I felt it was an appropriate time to do that,” explained Brown, NJ.com reports.

“I’m African-American, I wouldn’t rather be in any other country,” he added. “But I can’t be oblivious to the things I see every day that are different four blocks away in a neighboring town.”

After informing players of his decision, some of the students decided to join Brown, likely because the students could empathize with his reasons.

“I grew up in poverty, a lot of these kids are growing up in poverty,” explained Brown. “There’s a lot of social injustices and economic disparities. There’s issues right here in our own community.”

While they support standing for the flag, the Camden City School District said they agreed with Brown’s sentiments and praised the students.

“Whether our students choose to stand, kneel, or otherwise, we’re proud of their engagement with what is more broadly a very important social justice issue,” school district spokesman Brendan Lowe said.

VA

Related Posts

My Former Teacher Embarrassed Me for Years – When She Started on My Daughter at the School

My daughter kept talking about a teacher who embarrassed her in class. I didn’t think much of it until I saw the name running her school’s charity fair. The same…

Read more

Selling An Old Family Necklace Revealed My True Hidden Identity

I walked away from my divorce with very little. The separation had followed a difficult period in my life, and by the time it ended, I was left trying to…

Read more

I Created a Beautiful $2,700 Lawn My Husband Always Dreamed Of – A Month Later, My Neighbor Decided

I thought finally giving my husband the one thing he always dreamed of would bring me peace, but days later, tragedy struck. What I found waiting in my yard was…

Read more

Census Trends Heavily Favor Republicans In Future Presidential Elections

For years, Democrats thought the map was on their side. Now, the ground is shifting under their feet. Population flight, redistricting wars, and hardball politics are quietly rewriting the rules…

Read more

My Unfaithful Husband Took His Secretary On Vacation And Lost Our Penthouse

At six in the morning, I was packing for an anniversary trip to the Maldives when my husband, Adrian Cross, sent a message that ended something I had been holding…

Read more

Millionaire Father Visits His Daughter’s School For A Leadership Speech — But When He Sees His 9-Year-Old

On a pale winter morning in Portland, Oregon, when the air carried the quiet chill that settles between the last traces of autumn and the promise of spring, Harrison Blythe…

Read more

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *